The Way Things Are
by Amoinete
Summary: Sequel to The Way Things Were, this one will cover most of KotOR. AU. Please R & R!


The Way Things Are, Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not claim or own any characters or anything else affiliated with Star Wars, Lucas Arts, etc. If something is similar to anyone else's story, it is coincidental, as this was all thought out in my own head. My apologies to anyone who thinks otherwise.

**A/N:Ok, I've decided that the previous fic "The Way Things Were" is finished, as I cannot think of anything else to add to it. So I am about to attempt to tell my version of the game, so please bear with me. I am also SO SORRY about the serious delay in updating. A million and one things have been happening (i.e. moving to a new house, demanding professors, World of Warcraft, a crazy woman wrecked my car, etc. etc.) I have this entire story and then some plotted out in my head, but it's very difficult to put down on paper, so to speak. So thank you for waiting patiently. I appreciate you all and I will try to do better. And pretty please leave a review. They make me feel all happy inside and give me the encouragement I need to stay up 'til wee hours in the morning to write this story. Once again, my apologies.**

One more thing, I know this first part will be confusing, but it is necessary as it ties into the rest of the story. And as always, thoughts, dreams, visions and memories are italicized.

* * *

_"Hey Liyah, I'm home!" My fiance made his presence known. Heh, my fiance. I never thought I'd be able to say those words. With brown almond shaped eyes, a muscular but lean frame, honey colored skin, and the jet black hair that I just loved running my fingers through, he's a very cute fiance indeed._

_"I'm in the bedroom!" I shouted while folding up a tunic and stuffing it in a bag._

_"What's all this stuff? And why are you packing?" he asked while I continued packing._

_I stopped packing and stared at him, "I saw the datapad." Confusion crossed his face. "Care to explain how you were planning on going into Sith territory without telling me?" I further elaborated._

_"Oh that, I was going to tell you but it slipped my mind. But seriously, why are you packing? You're not leaving are you?" he asked with concern._

_"No, I'm going with you. You're gonna need all the help you can get." I simply stated._

_He opened his mouth to object but I interrupted, "Look Tavin, I've been wielding a vibroblade since I was old enough to walk. Besides, I'm 27 years old, I'm a big girl and can take care of myself, whether you like it or not." I crossed my arms. "It's not like this is the first mission we've worked together."_

_"But" he started. "No buts," I interrupted again, "I'm going and that's final."_

_Tavin looked at me hard, then cocked his head to the side and a crooked smile slowly crossed his face. He's so cute when he does that and I just love those big brown eyes. "Ok, you win. But just so you know, this mission is a lot easier than it seems. Might not have enough action for you." he came up from behind and wrapped his arms around me. He learned not to argue a long time ago._

_"That's okay," I said while turning around, "then it will just be easy money for us. Leaves more time to have fun."_

_"Speaking of fun," a devilish twinkle appeared in his eye, "that reminds me." As soon as the words left his mouth, he threw me on the bed and proceeded to tear off my clothing._

_"Tavin, what are you doing?" I asked, half amused._

_"What does it look like?" he replied._

_"Being a Gamorrean Pig-man?" I retorted._

_"Yeah, that's it." he replied dryly._

_"Well pig-man, shut up and kiss me already." I pulled him down onto the bed and planted one on him._

_Minutes turned into hours. Eventually, I woke up to find myself lying next to Tavin, my head resting on his chest. I felt him stroking my hair._

_"Mmm, this is nice," I muttered lazily._

_"Yeah, umm A?" Tavin asked._

_"Yeah," I yawned._

_"If anything happens to me, promise me that you won't change. You'll stay the same sweet, caring, affectionate and very independent woman that I've grown to love." I was looking at him now. He just had to ruin the moment._

_"What in Force name are you talking about? You aren't planning on dying anytime soon are you?" I was a little perplexed by this._

_"No no, just promise me alright." He was serious and I had a feeling that he wouldn't let up on this until he got an answer._

_"Ok, I promise." For whatever that was worth._

* * *

_"I thought you said that this was going to be easy!" I shouted to Tavin over all the blaster fire._

_We were on a mission to recover some stolen plans from the Sith base located on some backwater moon called Trisym. The plan was to get into the base in stealth of course, find the schematics and remove them from their possession, and get out undetected. It all worked beautifully until we were almost to our ship, The Firefly. A large group of well armed mercenaries were waiting for us, probably to steal the plans and sell to the highest bidder on the black market._

_We promptly took cover and returned fire, slowly picking them off._

_"That's enough of this. I'm going in, cover me." I ordered Tavin. I unsheathed my vibroblades and charged toward the nearest mercenary. I guess I took him by surprise because he was imapled on one of my blades in no time. I continued to hack and slash my way through the group, finding myself only having to deal with two more._

_After I cut down another one, I glanced over at Tavin, who seemed to be holding his own alright. Then the other merc lobbed a frag grenade at me. I leapt out of the way, twisting my ankle in the process._

_Tavin shot a few blaster bolts at him, seeing him go down, he rushed towards me._

_"Are you alright? Can you stand? Here let me help you." He helped me off the ground. I put a little weight on my foot, which was a bad idea because I ended up yelping in pain._

_"Alright, lean on me and I'll help you into the ship." We hobbled towards the ramp. We were a few steps away, when I heard a couple of shots go off. I looked at Tavin just in time to see him slump to the ground._

_"Nooo!" I cried out. Angrier than a terantetek, I unsheathed my vibroblades and ran towards the merc squirming on the ground, my sprained ankle forgotten. I must have had a murderous look in my eye because the expression on the merc's face held nothing but fear. This expression stayed on his face even after his head rolled away from his body._

_I didn't have to decapitate him, but it did give me an exhilarating feeling. I shook it off and made my way back to Tavin._

_I slumped to the gound and rolled him over to check his wounds. He took two blaster shots in the back and there was some kind of dart sticking out of his neck. I plucked the dart out and pulled him into my lap. I administered two medpacs, but it didn't seem to help much. He was still breathing heavily and trying to slip into unconciousness._

_"Oh no, stay with me Tavin. Stay with me." I cried out, tears streaking down my sweaty face._

_He looked at me with glazed eyes. "A, don't cry. You know I hate seeing you cry." he brushed some of my tears away with a calloused thumb._

_"Then don't give me a reason to." I whispered, tears still flowing. There was silence between us for a few moments, as I cradled him in my lap._

_"I love you Aaliyah." he said at long last. Moments after he began to convulse._

_"Don't you die," I screamed, "Tavin Alyn Melborn, don't you die on me!" All of a sudden, he was very still. I checked his vitals and felt nothing…..he was gone._

_I cried like a newborn baby, still clutching onto his lifeless body. When the tears stopped flowing, I pulled myself together and dragged his body onto The Firefly. After getting him onto the medbay table, I limped to the cockpit and punched in some hyperspace coordinates._

_I was on my way back to the medbay when I felt something sticking out of my neck. I pulled it out and saw that it was the same kind of dart that Tavin was shot with. I don't know what was in it, but I soon felt very sleepy. I lost my footing and fell face first to the floor._

* * *

"I know I shouldn't have self-destructed like I did. But, you were all I had left. I miss you so much. I still don't know what I'm going to do. I've been re-evaluated by the Fleet. Their considering letting me back on. I hope they do, I need something to occupy my time and I used to love my job once upon a time." I spoke softly to the headstone that I was kneeling in front of.

Today was the one year anniversary of Tavin's death. It was also the day that I decided I would put my life back together.

"I sold the house. It's a shame that we never got the chance to move into it, but I couldn't bear living there without you. A real nice couple bought it. Their expecting a baby and need the room. The woman seemed to love that house as much as I did. I made quite a profit off of it. But I think I'll hold on to the credits until I figure myself out. Well I guess I should be going now. Noma drove me here and she's waiting on me. Actually, she's the one helping me regain my status with the fleet. It'll probably be awhile before I can visit again, but I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you." I kissed my hand and touched the headstone before I walked away.

I arrived at my apartment sometime later and it was empty, as always. There were still boxes all over the place. We had been in the process of packing and I just left them there after Tavin died.

I navigated through the maze of boxes and made my way to the mini bar. With the intentions of getting drunk, I poured myself a glass of Tarisian Ale and kicked back on the sofa. I was well into my second glass when a call came in on the holocom.

"Lieutenant Ny'berri, this is Officer Haldo Sardon from Republic Headquarters here on Coruscant. After much extensive reviewing of your file, it has been decided that you are to be reactivated for full duty. Your first assignment is to report to the Endar Spire, which will dock at bay 3 two days from now at 0700 hours. There you will report to Captain Carth Onasi and he will give you more details of your assignment. However, your progress will still be up for evaluation. I hope that you do not make me regret my decision. You have your orders." The image of the officer faded away.

If I was drunk before, that news was enough to sober me up.


End file.
